Over the weekend, there was big news for fans of adventure racing, as it was announced that Expedition Alaska, a major new race taking place next summer, has joined the Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS), making it a qualifier for the Adventure Racing World Championship to be held in Brazil in 2015.
Expedition Alaska, which is being organized and run by Perpetual Motion Events based out of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, will take place from June 27-July 4 of next year. The race will host 30 coed teams of four from across the globe, as they compete with one another on a 500 km (310 mile) course that promises to be amongst the most spectacular, and challenging, that the sport has ever seen. As usual, those teams will have to trek, mountain bike, paddle, climb, and navigate their way along the route, which will take them through the Alaskan backcountry, and into one of the last truly wild places on the planet.
Joining the ARWS is a major feather in the cap for the race directors of Expedition Alaska, especially in its first year of existence. This distinction makes the race one of just two qualifiers to be held in North America next year, the other being the Gold Rush Mother Lode, which takes place in California Sept. 9-14, 2015. Registration for Expedition Alaska is already open, and teams have already started filling up the limited number of slots. If you plan on racing in this great event, you'll want to register early as well.
This news comes just days before the start of this year's AR World Championship, which is taking place in Quito, Ecuador starting next weekend. In a few days, the best adventure racing teams in the world will gather to challenge one another for the right to call themselves the world champs, and I will be fortunate enough to be on hand for the start of the race, and to report from the event in Ecuador in a few days time.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'd also like to point out that I have just joined the staff for Expedition Alaska as well. I can tell you that the whole team is excited about the race, and we're looking forward to putting on spectacular race that will feature a breathtaking course, and an unbelievable finish for the competitors. As such, you'll likely be hearing a lot more about the event in the days and weeks ahead. It promises to be one of the best adventure races in history, and AR athletes are not going to want to miss it.